


Footloose

by Tadpole4176



Series: Consolation Prize [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 12:50:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15886407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadpole4176/pseuds/Tadpole4176
Summary: Danny learns that he really is different from ascended Daniel, and discovers that both Jack and Daniel appreciate him for it. A trip offworld and the Unas play a part in the revelation and give Jack a few more grey hairs.





	1. Chapter 1

General George Hammond stood silently behind Sergeant Walter Harriman as he entered a gate address he’d only previously entered the day before. This time there was no one headed through. The two men were there to determine exactly what had happened to SG-13 in the hours since they had departed, and judging by the worry that already pervaded the older man’s face, it wasn’t likely to be good. SG-13 wasn’t often late.

Danny stood at the General’s side, a little to the right of Walter so that he could properly see through the window as the stargate connected. Not that anything or anyone was going through, but since he’d been cloned by Thor and stuck in a six year old body, watching the gate connect was about as close to travelling through it as he’d been likely to get and he didn’t like to miss a minute of it.

Even if he should have been doing translations.

Jack sauntered in as the General began to talk into the radio.

“SG-13, please come in.”

A pause. The General turned and nodded to Jack.

“Still no news?” Jack looked just as worried.

Hammond shook his head. “SG-13, Colonel Dixon? Do you read?”

Static. Danny turned to look up at Jack, his housemate fondly putting a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

“Sir?” Walter interrupted the silence. 

“What is it, Sergeant?” the General turned back to his subordinate. 

“We have a video feed from the MALP.”

Danny was fairly certain that Walter didn’t sound pleased about that. He turned to look at the screen, both curious and reluctant, shifting under Jack’s hand before the protective instincts in his friend stroke guardian could think twice about it. Jack had been struggling with ignoring his size lately.

“Oh God.” Danny thought he might throw up. There, displayed perfectly in position for the MALP to see, was Lieutenant Scott.

Jack grimaced, and his grip on Danny’s shoulder tightened. “SG-1 request the rescue mission, sir.”

“Absolutely, Colonel. You’ll have SG-3 as back up,” agreed the General without missing a beat, although the worry evident in his voice was already turning to anger at the attack on his people. “Briefing in one hour.”

“Sir?” Danny interrupted, his high voice surprising the two men who were already halfway to the door.

“What is it, son?” 

Danny braced himself. “I need to go too.”

“Danny! Haven’t we discussed this?” spluttered Jack. “At length, I might add.”

“It’s alright Jack,” General Hammond put his hand on Jack’s arm. “Danny, you know I can’t let you go through the stargate at the moment, particularly not into a clearly hostile situation. Hell, I have a hard time justifying allowing you on the base to my superiors.”

“I know, and I’m grateful, sir, but I have to,” Danny protested. “It’s the Unas.”

*************

“Dr Jackson, could you explain to us your findings based on the video we received.” The General nodded kindly to the small boy who, despite his years of experience, suddenly found himself rather nervous at the prospect of running a briefing. Particularly in front of a bunch of marines. 

Danny cleared his throat, aware of just how pitiful the noise he made seemed. “Well, uh, based on the video of Lieutenant Scott, there are a number of artefacts placed round the body which suggest that he was killed as a warning by a tribe of Unas.” He glanced round at his friends, studiously ignoring the marines so that they couldn’t put him off. Nonetheless, he could feel them smirking.

“You recognise these from your experience with Chaka?” asked Jonas perkily.

“Yes,” Danny smiled wryly. “I didn’t actually see any bodies displayed then - thankfully, but the nature of the artefacts is sufficiently similar to make the Unas very probable in this case.”

“So supposing we go along with this, and say it is the Unas, what exactly is it that you’re proposing, Dr Jackson,” asked General Hammond gently. “The fact that you were able to communicate with a single Unas on another planet after an entire day as his captive, doesn’t suggest to me that you will necessarily have any luck with an already hostile tribe in this case.”

“Well, I do know a few words in their language,” put in Danny, “but no, I’d agree, I think we need to ask Chaka to help us negotiate for SG-13’s freedom.”

“Assuming they’re still alive,” added Colonel Reynolds.

“Yes, assuming that,” agreed Danny. 

“Not to mention that Chaka’s going to agree to go along with this,” said Jack, the look in his eye making Danny squirm slightly. 

“We’ve built up a trust,” Danny protested, “and he’s proven himself to be an effective negotiator.”

“Yes, and let’s just examine that trust - with big you, Danny! He’s not going to know who you are. And call me cynical, but I don’t see him coming along anywhere with any of the rest of us.”

“Yes, well, I had an idea about that,” smiled Danny.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” observed Jack.

Jack’s heart sank as Danny flipped onto his next slide and his fears were confirmed. 

Three fold.

Make that ten fold.

“Danny, this is a really bad idea!” How the hell did he think these things up? Sometimes Jack felt as though his small friend invented these things just to taunt him.

“The devices the aliens used when they invaded the SGC,” realised Carter. “You want to impersonate yourself with Chaka?”

“Like you said, he’s not going to accept me like this,” said Danny, quietly.

“Agreed son,” the General was brisk, reminding everyone silently that they were on a deadline, literally. “If you’re right about this being Unas, and I know you invariably are, this might be the only way to avoid a bloodbath and lose even more of our people. As reluctant as I am to let you into the field in your current condition, you have a go, I’ll requisition the relevant device from Area 51 immediately.”

“General, sir, this is a really bad idea,” put in Jack, feeling his hold on the situation, and one rather slippery archaeologist, sliding away.

“So noted, Colonel. I expect you to accompany our young man on his mission to meet with Chaka, make sure he comes back safely.”

“Of course, sir.” Jack groaned. He wasn’t sure why, but Danny seemed to have an even greater talent for finding trouble than Daniel did, he was really going to have his work cut out for him on this one. 

“I too will accompany you, O’Neill,” added Teal’c, rising from his seat. “I have noted in my experience with children, and with DanielJackson in either incarnation, that the safer the situation apparently is, the more danger they may derive from it.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better, T?” 

“I am merely stating fact, although I do maintain the slim hope that this will ultimately lead to smooth negotiations for SG-13.” Teal’c inclined his head, then left the room.

Damn smug Jaffa, thought Jack.


	2. Chapter 2

The stargate looked bigger than he remembered. He supposed, technically, it was – relative to him anyway – but he hadn’t been this close for a while. Certainly he hadn’t been in this position, waiting to go through it. Apprehension like that could make things look bigger too, Danny figured, and despite Jack’s suspicions otherwise, Danny really was aware of his increased vulnerability in his present form.

He looked down at the device in his hand. Such a little thing, would it be enough to convince Chaka that he was really him? Danny shook his head, no sense worrying about that now. If this didn’t work, then the others were going to go through the gate and start shooting at a bunch of Unas they knew nothing about. Jack, Sam and Teal’c alongside them. And Danny knew Unas weren’t to be trifled with – this was the best way to protect his friends from a particularly nasty battle, not to mention get the remaining 3 members of SG-13 back in one piece.

It was also the first time Danny had had the opportunity to feel useful in quite some time – certainly for anything other than translation. It felt good.

“So here goes,” Danny whispered to himself. With a deep breath, he finally stopped toying with the device, and slipped it beneath his shirt.

The gate room shimmered.

Sam had explained to him, as much as she could, how the device worked. He’d been worried he’d look big but that his eyes would technically be looking through his stomach, or something equally inconvenient. Apparently though, the device was a good bit more sophisticated than that. Not that it actually rearranged him exactly, but it did compensate for that sort of thing – made sure your hands were touching where they appeared to be touching and so on by doing some sort of complicated solid projection that had made no sense even after Sam had explained it twice. 

Danny had decided to trust her, and apparently she was right – suddenly he was able to touch things which should have been way beyond his reach and, to his relief, the stargate was once more shrunk down to its regular size.

It’d be tempting to wear it permanently really. No more worrying about Jack trying to hold his hand in the mall, or being patted on the head like he was someone’s pet. No more…

Danny nearly fell over as Jack clapped him on the back.

“Ready, Danny boy?”

“Sure,” Danny just barely managed to choke out.

“After you.”

Jack had no intention of letting Danny out of his sight. Not in any circumstances. He might look just like his old self, but there was something about all this that didn’t quite ring true, and Jack was pretty sure it was going to come and bite them in the ass at just the wrong moment. 

He wasn’t sure Danny had enough ass to spare for that sort of thing.

A glance to his right showed that Teal’c was almost certainly thinking the same thing, although in hindsight Jack suspected he probably would have phrased it slightly differently.

“Best of luck, Dr Jackson, Colonel O’Neill,” the General’s voice rang out from the control room just as the three of them were about to enter the gate.

********

Trees.

Jack bit back a comment about the abundance of them, that’d probably got old by now, besides, knowing what lived on this particular planet he was actually quite pleased to see the trees.

He’d been half expecting an entire tribe of angry Unas. 

Or angry humans, that was always an interesting change of pace. 

Ah, yes, trees… Beautiful. Silent. Rarely carrying heavy weaponry.

They’d been here for minutes and none of them had attacked Danny for a start.

“Right, off to the village we go then, Danny.” 

“It is in this direction, O’Neill.” The deep voice came from behind them, clearly indicating that Jack and Danny were going the wrong way. 

“My mistake, so it is,” agreed Jack. “I’d just been tryin’ to forget about this place.”

“It all looks so different,” marvelled Danny, “hard to believe that the changes could be so far reaching in such a short time.”

Jack supposed he was right, now that he mentioned it, there were a good deal fewer trees than there had been on their last visit. 

The root of the changes became obvious 10 minutes later, when the 3 of them finally found the village. Everywhere around them, new houses were springing up. The village had apparently doubled in size overnight.

“It must be accommodation for the Unas,” remarked Danny, more or less to himself. 

Jack shrugged. He was probably right, they’d hardly carry on living with their human masters post revolution. Still, he had a hard time seeing Unas as anything but animals.

Maybe it was his first encounter with one biasing him.

Then again, it was probably the second or third time when Daniel was kidnapped, maybe the first Unas had nothing to do with it. Jack shuddered, maybe not.

Jack glanced at Danny again, in his Daniel disguise. This had better go well.

“Jack?”

Realising Danny was talking to him, Jack blinked away his worries about the Unas – for the moment. “What?”

“We should try to find Chaka. Maybe if we split up and…”

“There’s no way, Danny, we’re staying together.” Typical, 20 minutes as an adult and he’s already forgotten everything we’ve been teaching him since his reincarnation. 

“I shall begin requesting assistance from the local population,” announced Teal’c. 

One glare from Teal’c, and they had an instant escort to see Chaka – at what, if it was on Earth, would be called a village hall. Apparently Chaka was on some sort of village council – there was an image Jack didn’t want to delve too deeply into though, flashes of the trip across 888 after Daniel still making themselves known. Oh yeah, that would definitely be an interesting council meeting. He wondered what happened when they started arguing over taxes. 

It was crowded at the village hall, with an eclectic mix of the villagers, both human and Unas, milling in and out of the wide entranceway, frequently holding parts of farm implements or sacks containing various foods. Naturally, as their guide, a human man named Tam, informed them that they had arrived, he quickly dismissed himself – presumably before Teal’c could make any further requests - and they found themselves once again on their own.

Danny began to talk to people at random, regardless of species, introducing himself and declaring themselves to be peaceful explorers in a manner that made Jack feel positively nostalgic. He still didn’t want Danny offworld with them, there was far too much to go wrong, but to see him in his grown body and doing what came so naturally to him, couldn’t help but bring a smile to his face. 

Briefly. 

Then the crowd got a little too crowdy and, with a small cry, Danny was knocked to the ground.

It was strange hauling him up, the way he looked at the moment. Jack felt as though the apparently 6ft archaeologist very nearly flew over his shoulder and ended up back on the floor when he pulled expecting Danny’s weight to correspond with his appearance. There was something Carter had neglected to mention that the device didn’t do. No wonder he was easy to knock over.

The look on Danny’s face said it all. He’d obviously been half hoping to wear this thing all the time – resume his life, even if it was a lie. And with one careless push his hopes had been dashed. It was hard to say whether the tears forming in the eyes belonged to the six year old who’d just had a shock and been knocked on his ass, or the 30-odd year old who’d just let go of his life that tiny bit more. 

“Don’t worry about it, Danny,” Jack tried to reassure the giant boy. “You’ll be fine.”

“I will ensure his safe arrival inside the building, O’Neill,” put in Teal’c, clearing a path in the milling villagers simply by taking a single step towards them. 

Well, mostly clearing a path. One, solitary Unas was stood deliberately in the way, glaring at Teal’c with a distain that was palpable. Oddly, Jack found himself reminded of the Eurondans, although he imagined they wouldn’t have been at all pleased by the comparison. 

Of course, although Teal’c was quite capable of taking care of things himself, Danny stepped forward. 

“Leave it, Danny.” Even as he said the words, Jack heard echoes of himself, speaking to both Danny and Daniel. He couldn’t recall ever being successful.

“We’re peaceful explorers. We’ve come to speak to your leader, Chaka…” began Danny, blithely ignoring Jack altogether even as both he and Teal’c grabbed hold of his arms to pull him back.

The Unas stepped closer, intentionally threatening the young archaeologist. “Ka.”

Jack’s grip on Danny’s arm became tighter. 

“It’s OK, Jack, he just doesn’t understand,” insisted Danny.

“That makes two of us,” growled Jack. “We don’t need to walk through him, go around, see Chaka, save SG-13.”

“But, if we…”

“Danny Jackson, I suggest that this direction provides the most expeditious route into the building,” added Teal’c, indicating a newly cleared route through the crowd which provided a respectful distance from the angry Unas.

“But, I…”

“Danny.” Jack turned on his ‘Dad’ voice. Danny might not look like himself at the moment, and his brain might well be technically just the same as it was when it was full size, but something in there somewhere knew exactly what that tone of voice meant. 

Danny visibly flinched. “Jack,” he sighed. But he did give in, even if Jack wasn’t completely sure it was purely his influence - clear in the kid’s face, despite the disguise, was his utter exhaustion. Danny just didn’t have the strength to out talk the big Unas, even if Jack and Teal’c had been willing to let him try. 

“Come on.” Jack pulled his friend after Teal’c and into the building. 

It was quieter inside, most likely they were closing up shop for the day and that was why there were so many people outside. Nonetheless, it was easy enough to work out where to go. From the main entranceway there was a small waiting area, and then a single, larger hall, where all the council members were currently clearing up after a long day. All of them, and Jack made ten, looked exhausted. Probably this wasn’t quite such an integrated community as they might want to claim – at least not yet. Definitely time to tread carefully.

Jack cleared his throat. Sure, technically this was Danny’s show, but he liked to be the one to start things off, especially given the state of the boy. “Howdy, folks, how’re you doing?”

No response, still he hadn’t really expected much.

“We’ve just stopped by from out of town and wondered if we could have a word with old Chaka?”

Several of the council members, Unas and human, looked at Jack quizzically, but the Unas in question quickly turned to face Jack and growled.

“Hey Chaka,” grinned Jack, ignoring the reception, “how’re things?”

“Dan-iel,” said Chaka, looking at the younger man, moving over to them and prodding his shoulder lightly as he sniffed the air.

“Hey Chaka,” grinned Danny. “We need your help.” 

**********

Four of them emerged from the stargate and onto the SGC ramp. Not that they were staying. As soon as the rest of the team were ready, they’d all be off again to finally rescue SG-13. 

Dr Danny Jackson felt a surge of pride. Granted, he’d been let down by the device - no way he could wear the thing indefinitely – but deep down he’d expected that really. The main thing was that he’d made it through the gate and accomplished what he was supposed to, in spite of any temporary handicaps. Jack might have been a bit nervy about it, but he was going to have to trust him now, he’d given him no excuse not to.

Similarly, as far as Jack was concerned, everything was peachy, it’d gone like clockwork – so far at least. After all, Chaka was here, and hadn’t attempted to eat anyone, and Danny was still in one piece – not so much as a scratch, unless he counted the bruises from when he’d been knocked over anyway. Oh yeah, all was good. Not that that implied he was going to start taking the kid regularly, that would really be asking for trouble. But convincing Danny of that was a problem for later.

For now all he had to do was work out how to make a giant Danny take an afternoon nap.

In the circumstances, Jack thought he’d rather face down an Unas.


	3. Chapter 3

This was increasingly looking like a bad idea.

He took that back, he’d known it was a bad idea right from the start, he just hadn’t been entirely clear on the details. Now he knew, and bad didn’t cover it.

Sure, so Danny was right, and the presence of Chaka might increase their chances of rescuing the remainder of SG-13, but it might not, and in the meantime he’d got to deal with his mini archaeologist wandering round on strange planets with dangerously temperamental creatures.

Oh yeah, and potentially falling asleep in the process.

Jack wasn’t at all sure how Chaka was going to take that one, but so far there’d been no way in hell to get Danny to take a nap (even if there had been opportunity), and Danny was quite clearly flagging. He wondered if he would get away with slinging the kid over his shoulder when he gave out.

For crying out loud. They hadn’t even started the rescue yet!

Jack exchanged a glance with Teal’c, who was apparently reading his mind again – he could see the large man hovering near Danny, ready to catch him.

Danny, of course, was totally oblivious. Judging by the look on his face, he was still running on adrenaline fumes just from getting to go through the gate again. Oh yeah, Jack knew his kid, he could recognise that look - even when it was disguised on an adult face. He’d give him an hour, maybe two, tops.

He and Teal’c really needed a contingency plan - something involving Danny returning to the SGC would be nice.

Then again, the Unas didn’t appear to be feeling accommodating.

As Jack stepped out of the stargate, to the right and slightly behind Danny, so he could keep an eye on things, it was to see the entire area surrounded by apparently angry Unas. 

“This wasn’t in the brochure,” he muttered.

“The MALP showed no movement, sir, I can’t explain it.” Carter sounded impressed, Jack didn’t share her sentiment.

“Danny, anything Chaka can tell us?”

The boy turned to his Unas friend, gesturing in the direction of the nearest enemy Unas and speaking a few unintelligible words. 

As Chaka sank to his knees, with Danny gesturing to the remainder of the contingent to join in, Jack’s heart plunged even further. 

This really, really wasn’t a good idea.

***********

Jack watched silently, his eyes open for any sudden movements, anything that might indicate that Chaka was about to betray them in favour of his own kind. 

There was no hint of anything. The Unas seemed as gentle with Danny as Jack himself was – maybe some sort of over-compensation for that pesky kidnapping – and it was clear that he fully intended to bring the other Unas into negotiations. In fact, there was nothing for Jack to fault, which was annoying him. Not to mention making him nervous – the whole thing was definitely too good to be true. 

The other Unas were in no way ambiguous, their intentions were clear. Although, if he was honest with himself, Jack rather preferred that kind of clarity, muddy negotiations were Daniel’s forte – they hadn’t been doing quite so much of that sort of thing since he’d been small and Jack was wondering if he’d found himself rather out of practice. 

Not to mention patience.

Nonetheless, finally the enemy Unas did appear to be agreeing to speak with Chaka.

And Danny, naturally.

“Not without me!” Jack butted in as soon as he worked out what was going on, uncaring of Unas etiquette. 

“Jack!” Danny protested. “They want to speak with just me and Chaka, it’s how they negotiate.”

“You’re not going alone.”

“They only attacked because they thought we were Goa’uld. They were brought here as a stock of slaves and hosts by some long gone Goa’uld.”

“You’re still not going alone.”

“I won’t be…”

“You know what I mean,” growled Jack.

The subdued little boy shone through once more in Daniel’s grown up face, it was strange how the supposedly purely physical change could continue to affect him even when it was hidden. “I’ll ask,” he conceded.

Danny turned back to Chaka to explain.

No way on earth he was leaving Danny to fall asleep on Chaka’s shoulder, there’s no telling what they’d do with him.

Thankfully, the Unas didn’t seem all that troubled by the addition of one more human and didn’t require any lengthy haggling over that one – it was probably irrelevant in terms of opposition, Jack figured, particularly as they were forced to leave behind their weapons, oh and Teal’c.

As they walked away with the group of Unas, Jack had to admit, the big Jaffa hadn’t taken being left behind very well. Not that he’d said anything, but he’d taken a single step forward and glared meaningfully at the Colonel for not including him in the entourage.

Oh yeah, he was going to be in real trouble with Uncle Teal’c if Danny didn’t get back in one piece.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny blushed, wondering absently if the blush too was translated into the view the others saw, as he barely managed to hold the ceremonial bowl passed round by the Unas. 

It’s just that I’m not used to these limbs anymore, he told himself. Oh no, nothing to do with the fact that I’m now a 50lb weakling. He tried to stifle a yawn and concentrate on what the Unas were saying, carefully avoiding Jack’s eye. Jack had known this was going to be a problem, he always did – some sort of military sixth sense, Danny was sure.

Unfortunately, in avoiding Jack’s gaze, Danny’s eyes found themselves staring directly at Chaka, and the large Unas was looking back at him in a manner very reminiscent of Jack. 

“Chaka,” smiled Danny.

“Daniel. OK?” asked Chaka, touching the boy’s projected chest gently and nonetheless still nearly knocking him to the ground. 

“I’m fine,” replied Danny, surreptitiously resting his left arm behind him to prevent any further mishaps. “Thanks, Chaka.”

“Long.” Chaka motioned to the other Unas. “You rest.”

“I…”

“Good idea, Chaka.” Jack interrupted before Danny had the opportunity to deny himself rest. “We’ll take a break.”

“But…”

It didn’t matter, before he could argue anything, Jack had a hand firmly gripped round each of his arms, and he could feel himself being lifted from his seated position on the ground. 

Jack was gentle at first, probably trying not to attract unnecessary attention from the Unas, and quietly backed the two of them away from the fire lighting the negotiations as Chaka continued to converse with the other Unas.

“If we just get through this first bit,” objected Danny.

“We’ll be back later.”

“I need to be here.”

“Do you, or do you not, trust Chaka to talk to these guys?” asked Jack finally, his patience exhausted. “You’ve done your bit getting him here, you’re not in any condition to help now.”

Danny opened his mouth to continue to protest his enforced removal, but instead found himself easily slung over his friend’s shoulder. 

“Jack!”

“You asked for it,” his friend told him good naturedly. “Or did you want to keel over into the fire?”

“I was coming,” Danny assured him through gritted teeth.

“You are now, anyway.”

“Put me down. JACK!”

The Unas turned, once more paying attention to the two humans. Danny didn’t have the best view from his position over Jack’s shoulder, but he was sure he heard what could be translated as a collective gasp from the group of them.

Chaka rose. “Daniel OK?” he asked Jack, a lightly threatening note underlying the question. 

“Oh for crying out loud. Daniel’s fine,” Jack assured the Unas. “He’s just exhausted.”

Chaka growled.

“Jack, he doesn’t understand you. Put me down.” Danny’s muffled voice tried to plead with his friend.

Jack ignored him. Instead he turned, placing Chaka closer to Danny and giving the creature time to peer at his friend.

“Daniel fine,” nodded Chaka. “Jack strong,” he added, prodding at Jack’s upper arm in a slightly disbelieving manner. He turned to the other Unas and grunted something even Danny struggled to comprehend, then once again prodded Jack’s arm.

“Can we go now?” asked Jack, looking round the Unas. “Danny?”

A soft snore indicated that Danny was already asleep, and the Unas had turned back to their negotiations.

**************

“Major Carter, I believe that the stargate is about to engage.” Teal’c nodded towards the huge ring, distracting her from her careful watch of the remaining Unas. 

“It could be General Hammond,” put in Jonas. “Maybe something’s come up.”

“Agreed. However, it would be unwise to make that assumption.”

“We can take cover over here,” Major Carter nodded to the bushes. “Where the Unas were.”

“Major…” Jonas nudged her shoulder.

“The Unas do not appear to want us to share their hiding place,” noted Teal’c unnecessarily. 

“And I don’t think it’s General Hammond…” Jonas gazed at the gate as it finally engaged and a pair of well armed Jaffa stepped through.

“Indeed,” noted Teal’c, easily swinging his staff weapon round to point at the new arrivals. 

**********

He was fooling no one – neither of them were. As Danny slept, Jack stood watch alongside him, keeping an eye out for any rogue Unas, or anything else that might be headed their way. Just like normal.

Oh sure, recently, he’d been in his spare room – Danny’s room – and not watching for anything more dangerous than a late night wasp, but he’d been there. He liked to watch Danny sleep, it was reassuring. It reminded him that his friend was still there, that he was alive and there in spite of everything.

Jack had watched big Daniel sleep more than once, of course. In fact, he’d made a habit of it even before the man had ascended, but with little Danny it’d been different. Perhaps even more necessary than it used to be.

Danny slept differently too, all curled up in a ball. It looked strange on his grown up body, half man and half boy. For all that Danny seemed very much the same as his adult self, it was clear that there were differences.

The crackle of his radio disturbed him, though Jack took a moment to check that Danny remained asleep before answering it.

“O’Neill.”

“Sir, we are under attack. Upwards of thirty Jaffa accompanying an unknown Goa’uld. We’re holding our own, but have lost control of the gate.” Carter didn’t sound panicked, but there was definitely an element of her traditional pessimism in her voice. 

Jack glanced back at the sleeping boy. No way they were getting stranded here today.


	5. Chapter 5

This didn’t smell right. 

The instant he and Danny had arrived back at the campfire, with the archaeologist fully refreshed, if slightly disgruntled that Jack had allowed him to sleep so long, Jack had known that there was something different. A shift in power.

Something had changed.

Of course, they were looking to change things, Jack had to admit, but somehow it just didn’t feel like they’d changed anything they’d intended to. For the first time since they’d picked him up, Chaka was showing signs of some alternative agenda. 

“Danny, stay behind me.”

“What?” Danny sounded agitated, although he’d been that way since he’d woken up and looked at his newly enlarged Spiderman watch to discover he’d slept for more than 20 minutes.

“You heard,” Jack grunted back, not ready to go any rounds over this one just at the moment. He really wished Teal’c had come too though, and not just for the extra brawn, Danny always listened to Teal’c.

“But why? We’re negotiating, I need to speak to Chaka,” protested Danny, remaining stubbornly at Jack’s side and waving at the large Unas.

Chaka approached them quickly, faster than Jack was comfortable with, as he tried once more to move Danny behind him, still too slowly to be effective. In the moment where Danny finally recognised the potential danger, Chaka reached them, and all Jack could do was witness Danny yelping slightly as the Unas grabbed him by the arm, literally flinging him away from his friend before the older man could even react.

“Danny!” Jack swivelled round in an instant, but knew he was no match for the group of Unas who now faced him. Even Chaka alone would have been asking a lot. 

“Leave him alone.” Jack was firm. “He’s no threat. If you need another hostage, I’ll go.”

“Jack, no!” Jack winced, cut by the sudden switch in Danny’s voice to the small child he really was. Danny might be intellectually still Daniel, and for the moment he might look like him too, but fundamentally he was a little boy. Clearly something in the kid actually knew that.

“Jack bad,” announced Chaka, finally. “Snake.” The large Unas pointed at his neck, right where he used to wear that bone necklace.

“Ka,” added one of the others, his spit almost reaching Jack’s boot.

“I am not a Goa’uld!” protested Jack fervently, catching the gist easily enough. “Daniel, tell him!”

“He’s not.” Danny shook his head, gesturing frantically to his Unas friend. “Jack good.”

Jack could see Chaka’s fingers on Danny’s arm. Not hurting, just holding back. He let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, despite the strong, angry mob facing him. At least the Unas didn’t have any real quarrel with Danny.

He didn’t have time to enjoy the feeling.

Just as the Unas proved to him they were no threat to Danny, and Jack was beginning to think that it might be possible to take a leaf out of the kid’s book and talk their way out, a whole new problem reared its ugly head.

Jaffa.

Too many Jaffa. 

Jack made at least ten, and from their position on the other side of the covering bushes, camp fire and whole gang of angry Unas, he figured there could quite easily be more. Somehow, in Jack’s opinion, talking to them didn’t look as though it was likely to accomplish much beyond a sore throat, although he imagined, given the opportunity, Danny would be more than willing to try.

“Come in, sir?” His radio crackled to life.

“Carter?”

“Yes sir. There may be a few Jaffa headed your way. They slipped away from us.”

“Thanks for that, Carter.”

“O’Neill,” Teal’c’s bass rumble replaced Carter’s voice. 

“Teal’c.”

“We are in pursuit.”

“Got that, Teal’c, thanks.” Jack looked back at the Unas, wondering which way they were going to swing. If they really thought he was a Goa’uld, it was entirely possible they’d take him out in order to stop the Jaffa. 

He shrugged. The Unas were largely fairly primitive thinkers, they’d probably forget all about him in the presence of such an immediate threat. 

Plus, if he turned out to be wrong, Uncle Teal’c was well on his way to rescue Danny.

The Jaffa, on the other hand, were plenty dangerous enough at this distance. Detecting their prey, they started to fire indiscriminately at the Unas, largely with zats – as presumably they wanted the Unas alive – but a few of them seemed to have maintained staff weapons and were using them to back the group of angry Unas into a corner.

Danny with them.

Jack knew he had to think fast. The Jaffa weren’t going to care whether they hit Danny or not, and he certainly wouldn’t trust the Unas to keep Danny safe. He wondered how many Jaffa he could take down single-handed, and unarmed, or whether the change in situation would convince Chaka to let Danny go.

Then it was all too late.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion as Jack saw the staff weapon bolt which directly targeted Danny. There was no way he could stop it, yet Jack found himself lunging for Danny, desperate to move him out of harm’s way, totally and perversely aware of every detail of the energy bolt destined to kill his friend.

He was just too far away.

Neither Chaka nor Danny had seen the danger, the blow was inevitable. Before Jack’s eyes, his friend was struck by the staff weapon high on his chest. And then Jack found that he could no longer look.

He’d seen Daniel die way too many times.

Tears streaming down his face, Jack deliberately turned his attention back to the battle. With the arrival of Teal’c, and the rest of SGs 1 and 3, the Unas had quickly recognised whose side they were on, and it was clear that the big creatures no longer posed a threat to any SGC personnel. More than likely their negotiations had been aided by the appearance of those Jaffa. 

Jack found he didn’t really care. It wasn’t worth Danny’s life. As he saw Teal’c approach him, he found himself wishing that “Uncle Teal’c” would take the retribution he’d been threatening him with when they’d left him behind at the stargate.

“O’Neill!”

“T,” replied Jack despondently.

“Major Carter and Jonas Quinn believe that the Jaffa are in retreat, although we have yet to retake the stargate.”

“Good news,” nodded Jack. “T…”

“We must collect Danny Jackson…”

“..T, he’s…” began Jack, interrupting.

“… before the Unas Chaka decides that he is unhappy at the boy’s deception.”

The what?

Finally, Jack spun round. There, just where he’d left him, was Danny. Little, no illusions, no stubble, Danny.

Stood with Chaka.

Jack’s heart, which had only recently started beating properly again, once more leapt out of his chest. 

”Danny,” he called.

Danny had never known when to obey. With the threat of the Unas, and of Jack’s annihilation, lifted his curiosity had reasserted itself. “Chaka,” he said, reaching out to touch the creature.

“Dan-iel.” Chaka sounded as though he was affirming something he already knew. Silently, he bent down and sniffed the boy, then nodded. “Dan-iel. Well.” He patted the boy on the head.

“Danny,” Jack called to him again, his arms wide open as virtually begged the boy to come to him. No longer concerned about threats to him, Jack knew beyond any doubt that he had to touch the boy before he could possibly believe that this was real.

Finally, Danny ran over to him, the shaking throughout his limbs only becoming apparent as he wrapped his arms round Jack’s waist, the smell of his singed hair only then reaching Jack’s nostrils. It had been really close.

“It saved me,” said Danny, reaching his still wobbly hand up to Jack and holding out the charred remains of the mimic device. “The blast hit that first, and I shrunk before it got the rest of me.”

“Except your hair anyway,” Jack told him, lightly stroking the burned area. “Definitely used up another of your lives today.”

“That’s OK, Jack,” Danny grinned. “I got to start again when I got this body.”

“I didn’t,” grumbled Jack, willing himself to calm down. He turned to Chaka, realising that the Unas was stood beside them, lightly touching Danny in a manner that Jack himself could remember wanting to when Thor had first delivered him.

“Yeah, he’s real.” The Unas didn’t understand the words, Jack suspected, but he got the idea well enough, Jack could see it in his eyes. Oh yeah, that Unas was no threat, he suspected Danny had just found himself yet another guardian.


	6. Chapter 6

SG-13 were released, and suddenly we were an army.

Granted, Jack was well aware they weren’t the best equipped, or largest, army they might encounter, but there weren’t that many Jaffa left, and the large Unas had anger on their side. Whoever that Goa’uld was, he didn’t stand a chance, Jack was confident of that.

So Jack wasn’t worried about the fight, per se. Oh no, he was worried about avoiding it – specifically Danny avoiding it. He’d already caught the little archaeologist trying to snatch up one of the Jaffa’s discarded zat guns, responding to the reprimand with a hurt look and comments which went along the lines of Jack being paranoid and forgetting just how old Danny was.

Jack wasn’t sure he could forget that – Danny was six. Somehow he didn’t think it was him that had trouble remembering. 

Nonetheless, as yet another staff weapon blast hit way too close to them, giving Jack serious flashbacks to those all too recent moments he never wanted to live through again, Jack was distracted enough that he turned away from his charge to see where the latest blasts were coming from.

And to give the Jaffa a piece of his mind, naturally.

As he turned back, it was to see Danny once more defying orders.

This time, Jack was already too far away to stop him quickly. The boy had darted across the field, staying low as he’d been taught but still making himself something of a target in the process. It looked as though he was going for a fallen staff weapon, which as handy as a staff weapon would be, Jack wasn’t at all sure he could see Danny wielding – he was going to have a hard time even carrying it more than a few feet. 

Groaning, Jack headed off towards the kid as fast as his knees and enemy fire would allow, muttering to himself all the way. He was going to have words with that kid about weapons – just because he thought he was in his thirties, that was no reason to go round giving Jack a heart attack by playing with weapons willy nilly. Danny had all his memories, didn’t that mean he should understand why Jack might have a few issues with him and guns?

Then his anger flew out of the window. Behind Danny, right where Jack couldn’t possibly get a clear shot, one of the Jaffa had apparently taken an unhealthy interest and decided to go for hostage taking. 

Unusual for Jaffa, Jack’s rational side thought. Although, he supposed, they had come to take Unas away alive, so maybe not so shocking. Meanwhile, the rest of him lurched as violently as his stomach at the sight of the mean looking giant so close to his kid. He wasn’t sure he could take much more of this today, and with just a zat in his arsenal he was certain he couldn’t safely shoot – not without knowing the effects of a zat on a six year old body. He was just going to have to be faster. 

Naturally, Danny finally became aware of his peril just too late. As the boy looked up at a noise behind him, clearly half expecting an angry Jack, the Jaffa grabbed both of Danny’s hands in one of his and proceeded to wrap twine tightly round them, completely immobilising the boy’s hands behind him. 

“Jack!” Danny didn’t hesitate to call for his friend.

Fortunately (he hoped), Jack had finally reached them. As if summoned simply by Danny’s cry, Jack sprang to the rescue and, grabbing at the downed staff weapon, flung himself at the Jaffa, uncaring that the Jaffa weighed twice as much as him.

Dropping Danny to the ground and eliciting a startled yelp, the Jaffa swung his own staff weapon down to bear on Jack, whooshing by a mere inch from the Colonel’s nose, and leaving Jack with the distinct impression that he’d almost stuck his nose between the blades of a propeller. 

Jack groaned. One thing he’d really never wanted to participate in was those crazy clichéd Jaffa duel things. Way too much of that to the death revenge stuff, not to mention excessive use of blunt instruments.

Plus, as his remaining shred of rational brain reminded him, the Jaffa have a whole lot more practice at that sort of thing. 

Not more than 60 seconds later, slipping into unconsciousness from a particularly vicious knock to the head, his rational brain still seemed to be taunting him with that one. The last thing he could hear was Danny’s frightened screams as they continued to pierce the underlying sounds of the ongoing battle.

***************

At the gate, the Goa’uld was in retreat. He hadn’t come prepared for anything resembling organised resistance, and certainly nothing that couldn’t be handled with a few staff blasts and a load of zats – from a safe distance. 

He still had a few Unas, so that was a concern, but with Chaka’s help, Sam, Jonas and Teal’c had managed to successfully coordinate with a group of the free Unas, and even as the Goa’uld’s Jaffa dialled the gate and tried to run with his meagre prize, they were confident of stopping him. 

As the seventh symbol locked, one of the gang of Unas managed to hurl the body of a Jaffa directly at the Goa’uld, very much in the manner of a hammer throw - only on a slightly larger scale. Distracted by incoming fire from the SGC personnel, the Goa’uld hadn’t noticed the Unas flank until much too late, turning only as the great shadow of the enormous Jaffa fell upon him. 

His shield protected him, as always, from injury due to the missile itself, but as the impact hit the shield, the Goa’uld was forced to stumble backwards, directly into the unstable wormhole as the gate finally connected.

Even Goa’uld shields were no match for gate physics. Sam turned and grinned at Jonas, holding her hand up to slap his in the air. “Knew it!”

“Not quite the projectile I was expecting,” noted Jonas, grinning back, “but definitely effective.”

“Indeed,” added Teal’c, “the Unas are most innovative.”

Before them, at the base of the gate, lay the smoking remains of the Goa’uld’s glittering gold shoes and a number of semi-recognisable Jaffa body parts which none of them were keen to dwell on. The fight was over.

To the side of the remains, the Jaffa had largely lost their will to fight. A number of them had already fled through the gate, unaccompanied by any captive Unas.

“Brothers!” boomed Teal’c, standing clear of the bushes which had provided them shelter, and opening his arms wide. “You are now free. Join with the free Jaffa nation. Escape the oppression of the Goa’uld.”

A few of the Jaffa stared back, pausing in their flight.

The moment was penetrated by a high pitched scream. Crossing to the Jaffa who had taken time to consider Teal’c words, a large Jaffa sprinted, clearly heading for the stargate with no intention of stopping.

Over his shoulder was the slight, six year old, form of Danny Jackson, continuing to scream for all he was worth despite the guttural threats coming from the Jaffa’s mouth as he ran.

Teal’c’s arms fell from their welcoming position as he too began to run, a look of thunder passing across his features that would have given even the most foolhardy of his enemies grounds for retreat. 

Teal’c was not the first to reach the Jaffa. 

Just as Teal’c was beginning to recognise the possibility that he might have to follow the Jaffa through the wormhole, Chaka made that task unnecessary.

Solid and unmovable, the Unas placed himself before the Jaffa carrying Danny, reaching one huge hand out to grab the warrior by the throat even as he lifted Danny down with the other. 

Turning to Teal’c, Chaka nodded, patting Danny gently on the head then pushing him towards his Jaffa friend.

“Enemy,” said Chaka, the anger in his eyes matching Teal’c’s own. With his hand still on the Jaffa’s throat, Chaka easily spun him, then quickly tied his hands behind his back, just as the warrior had done to Danny.

Teal’c inclined his head silently, understanding passing between the two of them. Chaka would do what needed to be done, there was no need for Teal’c to pursue retribution. He turned instead to the shaking form of Danny, quickly releasing his hands then lifting him to safety whilst ensuring that he saw nothing of his Unas friend departing with the warrior. Danny Jackson was not the sort of human who enjoyed revenge, yet in this case both Teal’c and Chaka were certain of the necessity. 

“You are safe, Danny Jackson. There is no longer any need to fear that cowardly Jaffa.” Teal’c’s voice was calm as always, but an underlying tone betrayed exactly how he felt about the kidnapping of children.

He hoped that Chaka made that equally clear to the Jaffa in question.

********

“Danny.”

“Danny?”

Janet adjusted her grip on the still shaking boy. “Danny, you can let go now. Jack’s going to be just fine, but I need to take a good look at him.” She looked the diminutive archaeologist over, “and we need to make sure you’re OK too,” she added.

Danny didn’t respond.

Sam appeared at the side of the bed, tears in her eyes. “Is he going to be OK?”

“Which he?” asked Janet grimly. “Daniel’s in shock, but otherwise unharmed, in a sense the best place for him to be is with Colonel O’Neill right here where he’s safe and warm, but I need to check on the Colonel to make sure that blow to the head isn’t serious.”

“It could be?”

“I don’t think so, his pupils are responsive. I just need to do a scan to check.”

Reaching under the blanket, Sam began to stroke Danny’s back slowly. “Shhh, Danny. You’re OK, everything’s fine.” Praying that her team mate still recognised her as unthreatening even in his current state, Sam continued to try to soothe him until, finally, he relaxed his grip on the Colonel enough that Sam could lift him.

It wasn’t just the body. The last time Sam had lifted Danny like this – back in the police station when they’d been chasing the NID – she had felt as though she was intruding. Necessary to carry out as a charade, but in no way like lifting a child. She’d been well aware that she’d been carrying her team mate, and that he was close to her own age. This time was completely different. Where before he’d been calm even in the face of the police, not to mention Jack’s kidnapping, now he was quite clearly reacting as the child he was. It was as though the shock of nearly winding up as a hostage had let something loose. Where before Daniel had been through some horrific things and still insisted that he was entirely fine almost immediately afterwards, now his body continued to tremble nearly an hour after the event, and huge tears still streamed down his face.

“It’s OK,” repeated Sam. “Do you want to go with the Colonel while he has his scan?”

Silently rubbing at his eyes, the boy nodded. 

It was ten minutes later, when Jack finally stirred, that Danny finally began to stop his constant shivering. The deep breaths he took in Sam’s arms a clear and obviously conscious attempt to calm himself down before the Colonel saw him in this state.

“Danny!” Jack opened his eyes the instant he came round, the fear pervading them evident. 

Danny leapt out of Sam’s arms and to Jack’s side without a moment’s hesitation. “Jack!”

“Danny.” Jack’s arm snaked round the small boy from its position on the bed, squeezing hard enough that Danny let out a little gasp. “Thank God you’re alright.” He turned to Sam without releasing Danny.

“Chaka and Teal’c intercepted the Jaffa on the way to the gate, sir.” His second in command seemed to know what he wanted without being told, as usual. “Chaka left Danny with us and took the Jaffa away to deal with,” she added more quietly.

Without looking Danny in the eyes, Jack murmured, “good,” under his breath. Then he turned back to his young friend. “Are you OK?”

Reluctant to trust his voice, as the simple concern in the question made the memory of his fears rise again for a moment, Danny nodded, a shudder passing through his body even as his cheeks coloured with embarrassment at his uncontrolled reaction. “Sorry,” he whispered, blushing even more.

“You have no need to be sorry for being scared, Danny. No one minds.” Jack rubbed his back in a gentle, soothing motion. “We’re just glad you’re OK.”

Danny nodded again, glad that Jack had understood what he meant.

“I assume you remember we all get scared sometimes?”

“I remember, I still feel…”

“You feel alive,” said Jack quietly. “Isn’t that what matters?”

“Can we go home?”

Jack looked round, seeking out Janet even as Sam read his mind again. 

“I’ll get her, sir,” she paused. “And Danny, I don’t mind either.”

*********

It seemed that a mini version of Daniel didn’t have nearly the same resistance to hugging, Jack mused, smiling to himself as the small, warm body snuggled up to him. Although, he supposed the few times big Daniel had had a real fright, he might have managed a brief hug. 

Still, he had to thank Thor on that score, this was nice.

“Thor?” A slightly sleepy voice interrupted Jack’s train of thought.

“What about him?”

“You muttered Thor under your breath,” Danny told him. “I wondered why.”

“Just thinking about your arrival,” admitted Jack. “About you being little you.”

“I wonder if the Asgard experiment on any other races,” put in Danny. “Imagine mini clone Unas.”

“Now there’s an image,” chuckled Jack, shaking his head. “No, I was just thinking that I like the differences in little you.”

“You do?” Danny sounded genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Even the totally cowardly part?” asked Danny, rather sceptically. 

“Absolutely, even that part,” agreed Jack. “Not that cowardly would really be the word I would use.” 

“But…”

“Because little you is much more willing to let me help him,” grinned Jack, squeezing his friend. “And, of course, because you make an excellent hot water bottle - I can’t get Daniel to do this.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Startling both of them, the 6ft tall, if not entirely corporeal, Daniel appeared before them, grinning.

“Daniel! Sneaking up on us again, I see.” Jack raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in a manner that would’ve made Teal’c proud. 

“Yeah, hi guys.” Daniel gave a little wave. 

“Why’re you here?” asked Danny, sitting up and trying to shift a little further from Jack.

“To tell you that Jack’s right. That we really are different, and it’s not a bad thing.”

“See, Daniel said I was right about something, that never happens except in an emergency.”

“Can’t let it go to your head,” smiled Danny, relaxing a little. “But, thank you – both of you. It means a lot.”

And it did. He wasn’t just the next best thing. To be discarded if the real version decided to return. That was important - something Danny and Daniel appreciated better than most. Even too little to go through the gate, Danny had his own value.

He lent back into Jack long before Daniel faded out of sight.


End file.
